Film soundtracks are amazing things. One of the things I like to do when I’m thinking about the musical choices a film makes is to swap out a piece of music from a completely different movie — or even some of my own music — over a key scene, just to see how it changes the feel of the moment.
I love the idea that a piece of music can support, enhance, skew or even subvert the emotions on display.
I believe game scores can do the same thing. With games, though, you have the additional challenge of the player being able to do anything at any time, particularly in an open-world game like Class3. To support the emotional tone of the game while taking into account the constant variability of gameplay, I’ve chosen to work with the overarching themes and tones in Class3 as a palette for our music.
You will be able to work with others to stake your claim in a new society, one where your family is created by bonds of trust instead of a common bloodline.
What are the themes that will comprise the cornerstones of the musical palette in Class3? First and foremost: survival. Your friends and loved ones have been mauled, murdered, and reanimated. You’re constantly searching for water, food, medicine, and a safe place to sleep. Sorrow, danger, despair, and fear wait around every turn. The world is broken.
Secondly, of course, it’s about zombies. The wretched, rotting, soulless creatures that haunt your every step. Always on the hunt and never tiring, they constantly seek your flesh. When the zombies are closing in, the music isn’t about a world robbed of it’s humanity, it’s about the immediate danger of an approaching horde.
Finally, the music needs to support the theme of rebuilding our world. You will be able to work with others to stake your claim in a new society, one where your family is created by bonds of trust instead of a common bloodline.
Musically, it’s a genre defined by the sum of parts. Our Faded Americana style takes cues from Country, Western, Rock, Folk, and even Blues music, but it lives somewhere in between those genres without belonging to any of them.
Those are the thematic pillars of Class3; but we still need a framework to deliver the score. That framework is defined by two elements: The first is a style we call Faded Americana, defined by our art director Doug Williams to describe the setting and visuals of the Class3 world. Musically, it’s a genre defined by the sum of parts. Our Faded Americana style takes cues from Country, Western, Rock, Folk, and even Blues music, but it lives somewhere in between those genres without belonging to any of them.
Along with those elements come suggestions of instrumentation: rondo, slide, resonator, and acoustic guitars; dulcimers, fiddles, and percussion of all types from a traditional drum set to ‘musique concrete’. Inspiration comes from popular artists like Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, and The Black Angels as well as composers like Carter Burwell, Gustavo Santaolalla, and Dave Porter. Each of these artists have already tread the ground of Faded Americana, and it’s my hope to deliver a similar emotional intensity to compliment the art and feel of Class3.
The second major element to our score comes from the darker side of film. The pulsating drones of John Carpenter, the haunting discomfort of Jerry Goldsmith, and the textural tones of Vangelis all play a role in creating the sense of unease and intensity that plagues you and drives you through Class3. Together these two styles will constantly interweave to bring you a soundtrack rife with fear and despair, but also a sense of hope, exploration, and the potential to rebuild a world on the brink of destruction.
That’s where Jesper Kyd comes in. For years, I’ve admired his ability to create scores that are emotional, dense, and driving while still keeping a sense of sparse openness that’s crucial in supporting a reality where society has collapsed. With his proven ability to understand the complexity and diversity of game design, I believe Jesper will help us present a singular and unique experience for our apocalypse. I’m thrilled to work with him and ecstatic to have him as a key contributor to Class3.
-Kevin